The present invention relates to a building floor structure; and more particularly, it relates to a floor structure which is prefabricated.
There are many uses for buildings, such as for sheltor or storage, shelter it is desirable to be able to erect the building in a very short time and in almost any location which is leveled. Normal construction techniques using footings, foundations and conventional studded frameworks are not only expensive, but they are time-consuming and require workers skilled in many different trades, thereby presenting a scheduling problem.
In the present invention, a raised floor structure is provided which is prefabricated, relatively inexpensive, and may be assembled on the site in a minimum of time, using only a relatively small number of standard parts which are used repeatedly. Walls and sealings may be applied to the structure in accordance with the teachings of my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,611,650 and 3,762,117.
The floor structure of the present invention includes a plurality of height-adjustable ground pads or anchors which either rest on or are embedded into the ground. The anchor assemblies are used to secure the floor structure and building to the ground, whereas the ground pads are used primarily as support for the floor and building. As many anchor assemblies are used as are deemed necessary to secure the building, depending upon the weather conditions for the location at which it is assembled.
The ground pads and anchor assemblies are laid out in a rectangular grid fashion. The top of each ground pad and anchor assembly is provided with a casting which includes laterally extending support flanges. Floor panel receivers, which preferably take the form of a continuous elongated metallic extrusion, are pinned to the ground pads and anchor assemblies along the grid network. The floor panel receivers provide elongated horizontal channels, open at the top, for receiving tongues on the peripheral framework on individual floor panels. Floor joints fill the openings between the panels, after assembly to the receivers.
A separate peripheral wall support base provides a channel for receiving a wall panel, and it is secured to the ground pads for anchors. If desired, the user may employ his own wall construction, in which case, a separate wall base is used which does not provide a channel, but which is secured to the ground pads or anchors.
Once a site is leveled, the ground pads and anchor assemblies are laid out according to design. Each of the ground pads and anchor assemblies is adjustable for leveling the floor. Once these are laid out, the floor panel receivers are secured between adjacent ground supports, by means of pins which may be self-locking, if desired.
Next, the floor panels are assembled to the receivers, the peripheral wall support base extrusions are secured, and the floor joints are filled.
Because all of the dimensions can be very accurately determined in the floor panels, floor panel receivers, and so on, assembly on the site is greatly facilitated. Further, relatively few number of parts are used, and because the dimensions are standardized, such parts are interchangeable. Hence, there is little or no time lost in sorting out the parts at the site. Assembly of the parts is greatly facilitated due to the simplicity of the structure, and the amount of skill or experience needed to secure and assemble the floor structure is minimized.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment accompanied by the attached drawing wherein identical reference numerals will refer to like parts in the various views.